


Unconventional Heroes

by Onlymostydead



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: But mostly fluff, Confessions of love, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Panic Attacks, Pining, Pre-Calamity, friendly bantering
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-06
Updated: 2018-10-06
Packaged: 2019-07-25 22:18:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16206800
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Onlymostydead/pseuds/Onlymostydead
Summary: When Link gets stuck in Rito Village for an undetermined amount of time, he's dreading it- but only because Revali is there... And not for the reason you would expect.





	Unconventional Heroes

**Author's Note:**

> I have had this in my notes folder for OVER A YEAR. So I finished it. Go me!

Another routine trip around Hyrule to check to progress of the divine beasts. Honestly, Link didn't mind them; though it did become tedious at times. The costume he had to wear when they entered Gerudo Town, the general area of Death Mountain, resisting the urge to go hang out with his best friend Mipha for the short amount of time they were in Zora's Domain-  
And Revali any time they were in Rito Village. He was a problem all on his own, and for so many reasons. Just looking at him was distracting; the little smirk, the way he walked, the shining color of his eyes...

"What are you talking about? I have perfectly good control over the Divine Beast." Revali defended in a shrill voice, smoothing his feathers.

Link could see his feathers fluffing- a sign of agitation, apparently. Zelda had talked about it a bit, but Revali seemed to be trying to keep them in check. Whether his feathers were under control or not, his vocal range certainly wasn't. Link reached up to touch his ear, wincing at the high pitch.

"While your performance is satisfactory," Zelda paused, checking the Sheikah slate. "Your connection with Vah Medoh is still a bit lacking. You need to understand it better- it's not just a machine. The others have all made more personal connections with their beasts, and I suggest you do the same."

"Well I'm not-" Revali snapped his beak shut. "Thank you, Princess Zelda."

"Good. You are making good progress, but I encourage you to make more of that connection."

"Yes, Princess Zelda." His beak barely opened as he spoke.

"Thank you, Champion Revali." Zelda finished her note and put the Sheikah slate back onto her belt. "Link, head back to the inn."

Link hesitated, but turned anyway. The Divine Beast wasn't too hard to navigate, but still he had a bad feeling about leaving Zelda. Still, it wasn't worth the trouble to stay. The Divine Beast wasn't far from Rito Village, anyway. It was unlikely for her to encounter any trouble on her way back, especially with the amount of Rito Warriors around the Village.

It was more of a city, in Link's opinion. The sprawling wooden frame around the large central rock had expanded exponentially in the past decade, according to Zelda. The many walkways were bustling with people- Rito and Hylians alike. It was difficult to make it back to an inn- let alone the same one they had come to earlier.   
Impossibly turned around, Link resorted to backtracking out of the village in order to find his way.

And as he left, he saw a familiar flash of sky blue fabric. Likely Zelda's tunic, he guessed, and followed it out away from the village. She would forgive him for not being at the inn- and as much as he hated defying her orders, his duty was to keep her safe.

***

Link was too far away from Rito Village to be following Zelda, far past the stable. He was beginning to think that it was just a blupee, until he happened across the clearing. 

It was a small, secluded spot; one single tree grew out of the middle of the grove, surrounded by dark blue wild flowers. The tree was enormous, with sprawling branches casting shade and covering the ground in dappled sunlight.

"Well well, it is like you to just stand there and gape like a fool." A voice came from the top of the tree, smooth and high.

Revali, undoubtedly. Link's gut roiled at the thought. He turned to leave.

"So, you follow me here- then leave? You just wanted to see me fail, don't you?" Though Link couldn't see him, he could hear the distress in his voice.

Link raised his hands to sign, but knew Revali wouldn't understand- or even see it.

He laughed, hard. "Do you just enjoy seeing other people suffer? The way you hide at the Flight Range, how you're always watching with those beady little eyes- do you ever stop?"

Revali's breathing was coming fast, and Link could hear how ragged he sounded. It was like he was hyperventilating, tucked up there in the tree. 

"Well? Are you- are you going to-" he choked. "Won't you just leave?"

Link, against all odds, found himself moving forward. A tingling feeling at the back of his mind told him to go back to the inn, but he could always say he just got turned around.   
Easily, he scaled the tree and joined Revali in the higher branches.

He looked like a mess. His talons gripped a loose branch, reminding Link of fists clenched too tight around a railing for support. Legs and wings shaking, his chest seemed to flutter as he struggled for air. His head was tapped back, neck on display-

Don't think about him like that, Link reminded himself.

His head was tipped back to open his airway, beak cracked open to suck in air. Link laid a hand on his knee, his best attempt at being comforting. Revali flinched at first, then softened under the touch. The episode didn't last too long, but every raw scrape of Revali's breath felt like an eternity.

"So, you just came up here to watch me at my worst?" Revali choked out, obviously trying to regain his composure. "What's the point? To prove I'm no better than-"

Link shook his head.

Revali seemed to frown at that, eyes narrowing. He sat up fully, opening his beak to speak, but Link wasn't about to let him. 

"You'll control it well soon." Link whispered. "I believe that."

Stunned, Revali's eyes went wide. Link knew why: he never talked. Oh well, he guessed. Backing up to climb back down the tree, Link made the decision to finally make his way back to the inn.

"Link?" Revali swallowed. "Thank you."

***

Those words had been echoing in Link's head for days now, problematic since they hadn't left Rito Village. Zelda claimed she had other work in the area, on the shrine positioned on one of the pillars, but Link suspected she was just stalling so she didn't have to go back to the castle.

With her dad, Link didn't blame her. He wouldn't want to go home either. 

Regardless, it was growing more and more difficult to avoid Revali. It was like he saw him everywhere, all the time. Of course that wasn't true, but... Every bit of blue in the corner of his eyes seemed to be that obnoxious Rito Champion.  
Obnoxious, Link figured, because of how beautiful he was. There was just this pull between them, where no matter how irritating Link found Revali's demeanor he was drawn to him. There had to be more to him than the rough exterior and haughty words. 

Of course, Revali seemed intent on proving that wrong at every turn. He would show up at the landing, challenge him to a duel, and fly off. Or he'd simply brag about how much superior archery was to sword fighting. It seemed he had no end of things to brag about. 

Until Link finally just decided that he'd had enough. It wasn't like he was getting anything done here, anyway- and Zelda was in no rush to go back to the castle.  
It was difficult for Link to find paper beyond what stores the Princess herself had, but he eventually got enough that he felt he could adequately communicate with Revali. The next time Revali was bragging about how much better his archery was than Links, back on some of the lower tundra, north of Rito Village, Link handed him one of those sheets of paper.

"Teach me?" Revali read aloud, then cast Link a doubting look. "I hardly think-"

He took the paper back, and using the inkwell he already had with him and prepared, added more. He handed the paper back to Revali.

"Well, you're right about that." Revali snorted. "There would be no better teacher- though, I am unsure you possess the capability to benefit from the training."

Link shrugged, and wrote more.

Revali's feathers ruffled. "That is not true! I so do have better things to do than to teach you how to-"

Link shushed him, then shrugged. Revali, having lost his steam, crossed his arms.

"Fine- meet me at the flight range, and don't be slow about it." With a flick of his braids Revali took to the air, leaving Link shivering in the wind.

Well, he guessed that had worked; and Link started trudging his way over to the Flight Range.

***

"Well, that wasn't as bad as I thought it would be." Revali sighed, setting down his own bow so that it leaned against the wall of the little Flight Range hut. "Considering that you can't fly, and all."

Link shrugged, slinging his own now into its place on his back. In his opinion, training had been brutal. Revali wasn't happy with anything that he did; his stance was incorrect, where he pulled the string was too weird, and he didn't think that he held the arrow correctly along the string. It had been a lot of changes, and Link was exhausted by the endless jumping off the ledge and switching between his paraglider and his bow. His shoulders ached already, and he certainly was not looking forward to how they would feel in the morning.  
The one thing Revali seemed to like was correcting him, as the very thought made Link blush. He had a habit of coming up right behind him and fixing whatever was wrong, touching him to do so. Link had nearly jumped out of his own skin when Revali fixed the angle of his hips.

"Blushing at that little praise? Wow, serving the Princess must be an even more thankless task than I thought." Revali commented, smirking as he sat down by the fire. 

Link scowled. Serving Zelda was not a thankless task... Anymore. While things were strained and awkward between them, he knew Zelda did appreciate him.

"Regardless, you did come a long way today." Revali went on, producing a few mushrooms and skewers from... Somewhere. "You're a fast learner, and I can respect that. Maybe someday you'll be halfway competent with a bow."

Finding a smile on his face, Link chose to just roll his eyes. 

"I'm guessing you don't have any food with you?" He looked over Link's appearance, then glanced at his own, now skewered, mushrooms. "Here- take a couple."

Link's stomach rumbled. Nodding in thanks, he took the skewers. 

Revali clicked his tongue. "Though I don't know how long you'll be staying here, of course. This may end up being the only lesson you get from me, if the Princess decides to drag you back to that wretched castle."

Link raised an eyebrow and cocked his head to the side, hoping that came across enough like a question.

"What? The castle?" 

Link nodded.

"I hate it there." Revali restated, beginning to roast his mushrooms. "It's so cramped and awkward- everyone has this set of manners that are all the same. It's like a hive mind; they only say the same things to you over and over, and they all expect the same answers."

Nodding along, Link found himself much agreeing. He understood the servants and guards positions of not really being able to say what they wanted to, but it was a bit... Creepy.  
Of course, most of them stopped talking to him other than a deep nod of respect. It was too awkward for them, he thought, to talk to him and get no reply other than a shrug.

"And the whole place smells! It really does, and don't try to lie to me about it. Try to tell me- oh, wait. Never mind. I'd like someone to try to tell me that it's better being shoved in their little prison-like rooms than to be out here." Revali gestured with his skewer around at the wintery scenery that always seemed to lay over the Hebra region. "The air is cleaner here, and everything looks brighter. Wouldn't you agree?"

Link found himself nodding.

"It truly is the worst in there- no, it was worse when we were stuck outside of Gerudo Town." Revali decided.

If Link could have nodded more vigorously, he would have.

"Or the Zora's Domain, it's so... Damp. And while the whole place is beautiful, it reeks of fish." Revali shuddered.

Link cast him an accusing look.

He rolled his eyes. "The kind they eat there! I'm not insulting the Zora. Oh, and Death Mountain was horrendous- it was so hot I swore it would burn my feathers to a crisp."

While Link agreed that Death Mountain was bad, the most remarkable part of that particular journey had been Revali's complaining. He chuckled at that, remembering just how happy he had been to get away from that wretched heat.

"What're you laughing at? Don't pretend we didn't all see you slathering yourself with Fireproof Elixir every five minutes." Revali huffed.

Link shrugged.

"Then again... There just is no place truly like Rito Village."

The way Revali's face and body seemed to soften as he looked over towards the village, even though it was so dark it wasn't visible, melted Link's heart. A little smile seemed to be in his eyes, his brows losing their harsh edge.

"The village itself isn't anything to write home about, but the area... Nowhere else has such rolling hills, such mountains, these kinds of rock formations, even- except in Northern Akkala, but that hardly counts. This is the only good place to call home." Revali seemed to be entirely lost in thought, staring off into the distance.

Suddenly, he snapped back to attention. "Is something burning- oh no!"

His mushrooms weren't quite burned, but part of one of them had broken off and fallen int the fire, hence the smell. Angrily, he took them away from the flame and blew on them.

"As I was saying, you may leave at any point in time now; but until then-" Revali took a bite of his mushroom, then swallowed. "I will train you in the afternoons. Do we have a deal?"

Link nodded. He hoped that they wouldn't leave too soon, partially for his archery, and, well... It wasn't often that he got to see these relaxed moments of Revali. In fact, hardly ever did he see him calm unless Link happened upon him and Revali didn't know he was there. It was nice.

"Then we should get going- wouldn't want your Princess to worry."

***

They met like that for about a week, each time eating a quick dinner over the fire. Link had begun to bring things to actually cook after the second night, when Revali had insinuated that he was incapable of cooking.  
Revali regretted that one for certain, Link thought to himself as he stirred the risotto. This time he had made it with hearty salmon, one of his personal favorites. It smelled so good that both of them had fallen completely silent, intent on staring at the dish as it cooked. Link almost signed to him that it was almost done, before he remembered that Revali wouldn't understand that.

Hylian sign language was, after all, not very common. He was very lucky indeed that Zelda knew it at all, and he was shocked to learn that Urbosa had also learned when she was younger. Mipha only knew it because he had taught it to her bit by bit when they were children. Those were blessings in themselves, but it made communicating with Revali and Daruk much harder, especially with Revali's tendency to not look at you while he was talking.

Shaking himself back to reality, Link tested the risotto. The rice was perfectly cooked, the salmon almost falling apart and coated with butter. Salivating so much he was afraid he would drool, Link fixed it into two portions and handed Revali a bowl.

"Thank you." He said, before digging in.

It reminded Link so much of the way he had said it weeks ago, back when they were up in the tree. Looking at Revali it seemed like ages ago, but at the same time... It felt like it could have been minutes later. Link had to stop himself from staring too long, and dove into his own portion of food as well.

Link considered any meal eaten in silence a good one, when it was between him and Revali. That meant that he didn't even consider talking between bites, just putting more food into his mouth. To be fair, today had been a particularly grueling day of training for both of them, working on fighting as an aerial team. Link kept getting knocked off balance by Revali's gales, and Revali kept having to swerve and change directions to account for him. It had been, in all honesty, a mess for the most part; but by the end they had both gotten the hang of it. 

Link smiled into his risotto thinking about the way Revali would laugh when everything was going well, the little snarky comments he would make that proved he was in a good mood. Link loved that, he loved hearing him when he was truly happy. Even just the thought of it had him blushing.

"Link, there's... There's something I'd like to talk to you about." Revali interrupted his thoughts, setting down his bowl. "Seeing as I'm training you, you owe me. Which, of course, I am going to be merciful about, but-"

He froze, seeing the unimpressed look on Link's face as he chewed.

"Fine." He pouted, shoulders slumping a bit lower. "Will you teach me your sign language?"

Link froze. He had not been expecting that- but he found himself nodding anyway.

"So you will teach me then?" Revali may have been trying to sound uninterested, but he couldn't hide the sparkle in his eyes.

Link nodded again, a little more clear. Then, he mimed eating the rest of his risotto.

"Oh- finish your dinner, I can wait." Revali scoffed, but he couldn't hide the little smile on his face.

Link couldn't deny that he ate a little quicker, excitedly shoveling the cooling risotto into his mouth. He was enjoying it, but his anticipation outranked the delicious meal. Once he had finished, he stacked his bowl with Revali's and turned to face him head on.  
Pausing, Link tried to think of the logistics of this. Some signs would be difficult; wings were rather different from Hylian hands, and Revali only seemed to have four fingers on each hand. They would find ways around those, but it would be... Interesting.

And how would he start teaching it, anyway? Starting with simple things sounded good enough. 

Link pointed to the fire, then did the sign for it. Revali, to his credit, did his best to repeat the motion. Link tried it again, a little slower this time, and he was able to copy it near perfectly.

"Fire." Revali said aloud, while doing the sign.

Link nodded.

And they repeated the process: bowl, bowls, cook pot, hammock, bow, arrows, wind- it was a little difficult to mime out some of the different things, but with Revali able to guess they moved along fairly quickly.

"How do you say your name?" Revali asked, leaning forward like an eager child.

Link did the sign, the same one for chain, but with an 'L' before it. Revali nodded.

"Link." He repeated, fumbling at the sign.

Link repeated it, as did Revali. After a couple more attempts, he had it down pat. 

"And what about my name?"

Link shrugged.

"What do you mean?" Revali crossed his arms. "What do you call me, anyway?"

His face turning blood red, Link did the sign. It was made with just the pointer finger and thumb of the right hand out, the rest of the fingers curled into a fist. That hand was held by the mouth, where the fingers would touch twice, looking a bit like a tweeting bird.

Revali scowled. "Is that a bird joke?"

Still blushing, Link laughed and nodded.

"Why you-" Revali tried to sound mad, but he only started laughing. "I am not a bird, you ass-"

They both lost it laughing, the lesson quickly dissolving into them copying the signs Revali had learned in the most menacing ways possible, then breaking into giggles once more. 

Link did the sign for calm- a fairly self explanatory motion of lowering both hands fills spread, palms down. Revali seemed to get it, pulling himself back together once more.

"We," Link signed, spinning his finger in a circle, like gesturing to a group.

"We?" Revali guessed, and Link nodded.

"Go," Link pointed down, then swept it outwards.

"Out?"

He shook his head, repeating the action.

"Away?" 

"Go?"

Link nodded.

"So... We go." Revali summed up with a nod. "What next?"

Back was a simple guess, considering the fact that it pointed to ones literal back. Link had already taught him the sign for Rito, and though Village was a harder guess Revali got it after a few tries.

Link pointed to himself, moving away and close once.

"I?"

He nodded, then put his hands palm together, leaned his head to the side, and placed his head on his hands.

"Sleep. We go back to, I'm adding, Rito Village, so you can sleep?" Revali went through, nodding as he went.

Link smiled and clapped twice, giving Revali a double thumbs up.

"Alright, let's go then- I'll see you in the morning."

"See you." Link signed.

"See you?"

He nodded, and Revali grinned. 

"Knew it." And with that he took wing, flying back to the village.

Despite the cold, Link felt warm the whole walk back to the inn.

***

Slowly but surely, Link and Revali worked up to the point where Link's archery could only be improved by practice. He could tell that, even though he didn't say it, Revali was proud of him. Link was happy with himself too, though he was disappointed when Revali told him that.  
He had grown used to their little routine of meeting up and training after lunchtime, then cooking a meal together. It was... Nice, in a way. Since their training was so fluid and spontaneous in its content it never felt like drilling back at the castle, but the kind of relationship that had grown between them was very much the same. Revali didn't seem to have that need to prove him wrong or fight him all the time, and Link found himself able to crack past that arrogant exterior on multiple occasions.

"Ugh, I really should be working on Medoh," Revali groaned. "Piloting her has gotten easier, but I'm still not satisfied with my aerial maneuvers."

They were walking towards the Flight Range together, even though Revali had told him they didn't need to train together, and even though Revali had never walked with him in the past; he always met him there. Link, however, was not complaining. With how much time has leased already Link feared that any day now Zelda would be finished with her studies of the areas flora and fauna and they would be off. He relished every moment he got to spend with Revali.

Link shrugged. "You've been getting a lot better."

"Yes, yes, of course-" He rolled his eyes. "It's all just so... Frustrating. It's like the thing knows that I'm hiding something, and refuses to listen to me."

Nodding along as he listened, Link raised his hands to sign. "Are you?"

Revali frowned, eyes narrowing. "Am I what?"

"Hiding something?" He clarified.

"It's... No." Revali seemed to decide, looking away. "I don't know why I would."

Link's heart sank at that, but he nodded once more. "Ok."

They made the rest of the walk in silence, until they got to the ladder. Revali flew up while Link climbed, getting there long before him. When Link finally got up onto the little wooden house, Revali was already sitting by the cook pot, starting a fire. 

"Well? Grab a couple of logs for me, will you?" Revali didn't look up at he poked the fire with a stick, feeding it little bits of starter.

Link, with nothing better to do, went and collected a couple of the logs from the pile. Carefully, as to not kill the fire, he lay one in the pit. Already the air was feeling warmer, although it would be more so if there were real walls on the hut. The Rito seemed opposed to this practice in building in general, however, so Link thought it best not to bring it up. Revali had ranted on countless occasions about how dreadful Hyrule Castle was, for how cramped it is on the interior specifically.

Revali dusted off his hands, then sat down cross legged. "There. Now, what signs are we going over today?" 

Link smiled, then began to teach some of the more complex words to grasp. Things like love, falling, understand, tribe- even some specific place names that Link only got Revali to guess by describing them. He always had some quip about them, too.

"I didn't think Hateno was charming."

"Hyrule Castle isn't that beautiful- it's a little squat."

"Lake Floria. That's not too hard, the sign is like flowers."

After that was trying to get a better understanding of in-between words, but that tended to be more difficult. Lessons on those seemed to be the most frustrating, so Link tried to only have parts of it taught each day that they met. Which, by this time, they had spent many, many afternoons and late into the night learning how to talk to each other, understanding the different words and tones. Revali seemed particularly impressed that some words meaning changed drastically based on your facial expression. 'Sorry' for example, was understood to be the opposite if you were smiling.

He really like that one, and who could guess why? Of course Revali would try to learn how to be as sarcastic as possible in sign. He had come a long way from fumbling attempts to re-create the word 'fire' after Link signed it, and he had to admit that their time together was more than just enjoyable. Link felt really, truly happy with Revali.

Which is why, when Princess Zelda could no longer postpone going back to the castle, Link couldn't sleep. He had known it was coming, he had really known, but it still hit like a sack of bricks. Suddenly his little world of going to Revali and talking with him all evening was going to be gone, and it would be back to standing outside Zelda's door for hours on end.   
He hated it, he hated the monotony of guard duty. Link did the same thing exactly every day: he woke up early, he went to morning drills with the other royal guards, he hurried back to his room and bathed, then he went to serve the princess. Occasionally that particular duty differed, but only when Zelda could help it. She too hated being confined to the castle, when she was away from the ancient machines. Link didn't understand it, but he did understand the way her face lit up when she began talking about their different springs and cores. More often than not, however, she was forced into performing more princess-ly duties through the afternoon, which mean guard duty.

Link rolled over, trying not to think about it too much. Revali already knew that he was leaving in the morning, so he wouldn't be waiting for him on the landing where they had met up these past couple of weeks. That landing always made Link laugh; it reminded him of when Revali would challenge him to duels, and insult his abilities as Zelda's appointed knight.   
Revali's feathers always ruffled in what Link had come to recognize as embarrassment when he brought it up, always citing one lame excuse or another for his behavior. Personally, Link was more glad that he had settled down some, when it was just the two of them. They had gotten so close, in relationship and proximity. So many times, sitting close to each other by the fire, Link would feel that urge to lean forward and touch their foreheads together. It was impulsive, yes, but that didn't mean he craved that kind of closeness with Revali. He wanted to hold him close to-

Link shut his eyes and rolled over again, suddenly realizing just how lonely he felt lying in his bed. All he wanted was for Revali to be lying by his side.

Sitting up, Link tried to shake that thought out of his head. If he wasn't going to sleep, he may as well pass the time somewhere else. Quietly as he could, Link pulled on his pants. It was a particularly clear and quiet night, which was good in the aspect that he could see, but bad because he felt the entire village could hear him rummaging in his things. Quickly he pulled on his boots, his shirt, and slung his bow and quiver on. After a moments consideration, he took his sword with him too.  
With only that light of weaponry and an apple tucked away in his pocket, Link snuck his way out of the inn and began to wander. He could head to the Flight Range, or...

Turning on his heel, Link stalked through the Village as quickly as he could. He knew exactly where he was going, even though he had only been there once before. Shivering, Link wished he had dressed a little warmer. While it was only chilly during the day, at night the temperature combined with the wind could be downright dangerous. Regardless, he forged on.  
Rubbing his arms for additional warmth, Link turned the corner and entered the little clearing. The tree sat there just like it had before, the high branches offering protection from the wind... And unwanted eyes. Link half expected to hear Revali's labored breathing inside. 

Shrugging off that thought, Link scaled the tree and rested himself on one of the branches. It wasn't anywhere close to as comfortable as the bed back in the inn, but somehow the hard surface was more calming. Something about the little divot here in the branches, the protection from the wind... Link could almost imagine that Revali was in the tree with him as he drifted off to sleep.

***

"Well well, isn't this a sight."

Link's eyes fluttered open at the sound of that voice, surprised to see that it was still dark. There, pulling himself up into the higher branches, was Revali. Link let out a sigh of relief, settling back into his spot.

"I'll admit, I did wonder if you would be here. It's not too bad of a place to sleep, honestly." Revali went on, finding his own place in the tree. "I slept up here for years, before I had a house of my own."

Link frowned, looking at Revali a little more closely. Did he hear that right?

"I... I'm an orphan." He admitted, his eyes staring up into the canopy. "I was fed by the villagers well enough, and I could have stayed with a family, but... It just seemed too fake."

"What do you mean?" Link pulled himself up more, propping himself up on his elbows, then sitting.

Revali shrugged. "It wouldn't be my family. I would still be an outsider, an unwanted child just burdening them. I was a sickly kid, you know. My physical prowess is a newfound thing."

"I... I never knew." Link signed slowly, finding himself leaning forward more.

He laughed. "Of course you didn't know- there's no one alive who would tell you. Now that I've proven myself everyone wants to forget how they treated me." He spat those last words in contempt. "No, everyone wants me to be a conventional hero. I thought that was what the Divine Beast wanted out of me, too."

Link shrugged. "None of us are very conventional heroes though, really."

"True, true." Revali nodded. "I'm not sure there's such a thing, anymore. I used to think you were, but..."

Link chuckled. "But what?"

"But you're more than that." Revali continued. "You're selfless and kind, yes, but you're also snarky. You make awful puns, and you like to annoy people a little bit. You're just as much of a real person as the rest of us."

Link tried to raise his hands to sign, but he couldn't find the words.

"We're all just unconventional heroes, trying to get control of our powers and assets before it's too late." Revali murmured, rolling into his side. "Two of the champions of Hyrule, sleeping in a tree."

Link shivered. "Yeah, I guess we are."

Revali smiled. "You're cold."

"I'm not that cold." Link signed, shrugging. "I'll be fine."

"Get over here, I'll hold you if you can keep from making any jokes about it." Revali moved back, making room in his place for Link.

Link, not about to miss the opportunity, went right in. Revali was warm and soft, and he shuddered as he wrapped his wing around him.

"You really are that cold." Revali grumbled. "Goodnight, Link."

He only responded by burrowing deeper in the feathers of Revali's chest, already feeling himself drifting off.

***

Sunlight pouring through the leaves of the tree woke the two of them up in the morning. Revali had woken up before Link, and he had shaken him awake before letting him go completely. Link shivered in the absence of his warmth, missing the touch instantly.

"You have to go, the Princess will want you." Revali reminded, facing away from Link.

The reminder hit Link like a sack of bricks, making his heart feel heavy. Emotions boiled in his chest, finally coming out as him reaching forward to touch Revali's arm.

He turned around to face him, and Link took his chance before he lost the courage.

"Revali, I think I fell a little in love with you." He signed with eyes pressed shut, his face turning red and his heart pounding.

Silence. The wind whistled through the tree, rustling the leaves. Birds were singing outside. 

Then Revali laughed. 

"You're joking," he insisted, his breath coming quickly. "You have to be joking."

Link felt like he had been stabbed through the heart, but he shook his head. "I'm not joking."

"I don't deserve this," Revali breathed. "This is just too much."

Link swallowed.

"Link, I think I've been in love with you this whole time." Revali's voice broke as he spoke, and Link could feel his words like a weight lifted off his shoulders.

Opening his eyes, Link looked straight at Revali. If it was true... Both of them broke into smiles, unable to stop their laughter.

"You still have to go." Revali restated.

Link groaned. "Don't remind me."

"But I can travel with you as far as Tabantha Bridge, if you like." He offered.

A smile tugged at Link's lips. "I would like that very much."

"Alright- it's settled then. Revali sat up very straight, puffing out his chest. "I shall be escorting you and the Princess for a time, then I will return to Rito Village."

Link shoved his shoulder. "You're such a dork."

Revali guffawed. "You're in love with a dork?"

They were both laughing as they left the tree, and a long way down the road.

"How's your control over Vah Medoh?" Was Zelda's only comment when she noticed Revali was coming with them.

He smiled. "I think we've learned to connect with each other quite well."

Link knew that Revali could say that with confidence, now. He had seen what the two of them could do together, and it was breathtaking. A command from him had gotten no reply before, but now? A simple request was followed as quickly as possible. It was a connection, like a friendship, but... More.

Link met Revali's eyes, and smiled. When they parted ways it would be sad, for sure- but Link didn't feel quite so lonely.

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me on Tumblr at Supertinywords! Comments are love <3


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